A box of kittens
by JkPippa
Summary: Master Mao has been making a weird request. It makes sense that only the weird master agreed to do it.


Master Mao looked at the small critters in the box as they slept. This was probably a very bizarre idea, but it was worth the try.

He grabbed the box and made his way to Master Swoop's training grounds.

"Hello, Master," he said.

"Master," the blind master responded. He turned his head and sniffed the air. "What have you got there?"

Mao smiled, impressed. "Well, I found these little fellows at the academy and I thought I'd keep them safe from the children until I can find them a home."

He presented Master Swoop with the box and the blind master stuck his hand in it, petting the little furry creatures.

"What are they?"

"Kittens."

"Well, is there anything I can do for your kittens?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to look after them until I find them a home," Mao asked directly.

Swoop, who was still petting the sleeping kittens, shook his head. "I'm sorry, Master. But I'm afraid I could lose them or step on them. Cats can be deceptively silent and I'm afraid I'd be even more of a risk for them than the children in the academy."

"Are you telling me the man who invented the Swoop technique can't look after three kittens because he's blind?"

"I'm afraid I don't have anyone to assist me for now, so yes, I wouldn't want to step on one of these little creatures. Maybe Finn would be willing."

"Perhaps. Thank you, Master, for your honesty. And excuse the interruption."

Mao made his way to Master Finn's beach shack, where the sea-roughened master was building a boat.

"Master," Mao greeted.

"Mao, my friend," Finn greeted back. "Good to see you. What have you got there?"

"Oh," Mao showed him the box. "I found them at the academy and thought I'd keep them away from the children, until I can find them a home."

"I see," Finn commented, throwing a completely uninterested look at the kittens in the box. "Are you taking them out for a walk?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you'd look after them for me, only for a little while."

Master Finn looked very flustered at the question. "Well, Mao, you see, it's not that I wouldn't want to but this place would be very dangerous for them, I mean, I have the tools and the sea is right there, they could drown or something. I get lost in my work for hours, I don't think I'm the right person to look after small creatures."

"You did a good job with RJ," Mao commented.

"Did I?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm done looking after creatures who will grow up to be ungrateful to me," Finn said, returning to the boat he was making. "I had enough of that with RJ, see?"

"Yes, I see," Mao agreed. "Well, I guess I'll just keep trying, then. Sorry for the interruption, Master."

"No problem," Finn dismissed from his work bench. "I hope you find them a spot."

Mao walked away with a smile. It seemed his original conclusions were correct, but he still needed to make sure.

He made his way to the old, empty building the Wolf Master had procured to live.

He walked to the door, which had a glass covered in newspaper, and knocked. He could hear music coming from inside, so he knocked again, harder.

The music stopped and a few seconds later the door opened.

"Master," Mao greeted.

"Master Mao!" The young Wolf Master said, looking surprised. He bowed slightly to him and opened the door to let him in. "It's great to see you, is there anything I can do for you?"

Mao looked at him and smiled. He could understand why so many at the Pai Zhua academy wondered how RJ had even made it to master. He stood in front of him, wering jean overalls and a stripped tank top, a bandanna over his hair and had many paint stains in his hands, face and clothes. Mao looked down and saw the young master was barefoot.

"Isn't that dangerous?" He asked. RJ looked down and then around the room, which was obviously undergoing renovations, all of which RJ seemed to be doing himself.

"I guess, but, well, I get a better sense of the place's vibe if I'm barefoot. Like, I can read the room's energy better, you know? It's like the room can't talk to me through shoes."

Mao contained a chuckle and at that moment, one of the kittens in the box woke up and started meowing loudly. RJ's eyes lit up and he set aside the brush he was holding and cleaned his hands on his pants' legs.

"Is that a kitten?" he asked Mao, pointing at the box.

Mao opened the box, where now all three kittens were awake. "Kittens."

"Oh," RJ let out, fascinated. "You are so cute, little cat dudes!" He complimented, reaching into the box to take out the kitten who was meowing loudly. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked the small creature, caressing its head. "Hey, it's alright, it's alright." He held the kitten close to his chest as he pet it.

"I found them at the academy," Mao told RJ. "I thought perhaps you'd look after them until I could find them a home, but you seem to have your hands full here."

RJ didn't answer. Instead, he took the other kittens out of the box and walked with them around the room. "What do you think? Is it good enough? Too much purple?"

Mao stood there, smiling, barely able to contain his laughter. He had been right all along, apparently.

"Well, Master, it seems they like the place," RJ told him, putting the kittens back in the box. "I can keep them, I'd love the company. And they'll be great pest controls when they grow up."

"Pest controls?"

"I'm opening a pizza parlour. By law I have to use all these chemicals to do pest control, but I'm sure these three amigos will do a much better job at keeping those roaches and rats away. They won't have a second of boredom!" He announced enthusiastically.

"You don't mind looking after them, then? Until I find them a home?"

"You've found them a home," RJ cleared, taking the box from Mao. "Here, with me. I'd love the company."

Mao took the box back from RJ with a smile. "You can't keep them."

"Why not? You brought them here for me to look after them until you found them a home."

"I have taken them to all the masters," Mao told RJ. "Only you agreed to look after them. You dismissed the dangers they would be in because you're confident you can keep them safe and you even asked for their opinion before deciding to keep them."

"So?"

"RJ, I want you to be the one who trains the Chosen Protectors."

"What?" The young master looked completely surprised. "ME?!"

"Yes, you. You have a great heart and you are very wise, despite your age. Your methods may be a little unorthodox but I've seen the results they get. You are a great human being and I'm sure you'll do wonders with the Chosen Protectors."

"Wait," RJ said, holding his hands up in front of him. "You want me to do the one thing every single Pai Zhua master ever wants to do… because I agreed to look after three kittens?"

"They are a metaphor."

RJ took one of the kittens -who was meowing loudly- out of the box and stepped back from Mao, softly petting the animal.

"He's scared," he told Mao. "He's the runt, isn't he?"

"Yes."

"Can I keep this one?"

"No."

"I really wouldn't mind, you know."

"RJ, I need an answer."

"About the Chosen Protectors?"

"Yes."

RJ pursed his lips and looked down at the kitten, who was now softly purring in his hand, curled into a little ball. "I'll do it," he said and Mao smiled brightly. "With one condition."

"Yes?"

"I get to keep the kittens," RJ said.

Mao snorted in laughter. "They really stole your heart, didn't they?"

"I could use the company."

"We'll meet halfway, you can look after the kittens until they are adult cats," Mao said. "So our metaphor is complete."

RJ looked down at the really tiny kitten in his hand and smiled. "Alright. But you have to find them a home as adults."

"They'll join the dozens of other cats we have roaming freely around the Pai Zhua academy, Master," Mao promised, handing the young man the box with the other two kittens. "Two males and one female. Figure out which is which."

RJ looked at the kittens for a while and picked up one of the ones still in the box, who seemed to have a healthy sense of adventure. "This is the girl," he said, turning the kitten over to check if he was right. He showed Mao. "She is!"

"Well done," Mao said. "In that case, I will leave you to your painting and your new friends and return to the academy."

"Thanks, Master," RJ said, bowing again.

"RJ."

"Yes?"

"You are a master now too, son, you don't have to bow to me."

"Just being respectful, Master."

"You can call me Mao."

"Maybe one day."

"One last thing."

"Yes?"

"I knew you'd be the only one to take them," Mao admitted. "I'm very glad you did. I'm very proud to have you in my master ranks, Wolf Master."

"Thanks, Master," the young man said, blushing.

"And your restaurant is coming along nicely."

"I have big plans for it," RJ said enthusiastically.

"I'm sure you do," Mao said. "You don't think small."

Mao left with that and RJ sat in the middle of the room, his legs crossed. He put the box down and picked up the smaller kitten.

"You will become my most fearsome feline friend, buddy, I promise," he told him. "You are going to be my little tiger. So, I guess I'll just call you Tony."

He put Tony on the floor to pick up the female kitten, who was a bright shade of orange. "You look like a little Cheeto, dear," he told her, caressing her belly. "But I can't call you Chester because that's a boy's name. How about Ginny, like the Harry Potter character? She's a badass ginger like you."

He put Ginny down next to Tony and looked at the other kitten, a black one who was standing very stiffly in a corner of the box. "You look a little tense, buddy," he said, picking it up. "What should we call you? You are furtive and silent, like a jaguar. But you don't look anything like a jaguar and I don't really know any famous jaguars, but you are black. Black, silent, furtive… You, my friend, are Bruce. After Bruce Wayne, of course."

RJ put Bruce down and watched the three little animals look around themselves, curious and confused. He understood how they felt. Not only did he have to look after Tony, Ginny and Bruce, he would have to look after the three Chosen Protectors someday.

The job every Pai Zhua master wanted. Even his father.

"How do you like me now, dad?" he asked the air with a smirk.

He put the kittens back in the box and got up. He had to change to buy everything his new friends would need.

He promised that even though Tony, Ginny and Bruce had caught him off-guard, he would be ready for the Chosen Protectors when they came.

All the better. This way, he didn't have to convince anybody else that making them Power Rangers was a good idea.

It was his call. And he already agreed it was a good idea.


End file.
